More Sedentary Americans than 20 Years Ago

Far more Americans are sedentary now than 20 years ago, according to an analysis of national data published in August 2014 in the American Journal of Medicine.

The number of women who reported no leisure-time physical activity jumped from 19 percent in 1994 to 52 percent in 2010; in men the numbers rose from 11 to 43 percent.

Surprisingly, the Stanford University researchers found that average calorie intake did not increase significantly during this period (previous analyses found that calorie intake did rise markedly, at least until 2000). Thus the increase in body weight seen since 1994 can be attributed to less exercise, not more calories, they concluded.